Caiaphas

An adventurous route with a good bottom pitch. Start at a short corner 3m right of a huge pillar that leans against the cliff.
1) 5c, 25m. Climb the corner, then trend right to reach a white sheet. Traverse 3m left and climb a thin crack to pass a strip-roof at the fault-line. Follow a long diagonal flake rightwards to a stance after 5m.
2) 5a, 15m. Continue along a flake to finish up a loose corner.FA. George Hounsome, Scott Titt 22.9.1979

USER COMMENTS

Soft and unstable at the break, shrapnel all over the holds above, and possibly the loosest finish at Swanage. For the adventurous only! Try not to kill anyone walking round the bottom to Tudor Rose etc.Ellis - 20/Sep/04

Yes, it is a touch loose. The thin crack on the first pitch is really good but strenuous once it kicks in. There's some slightly dubious fixed gear here - placing any more would be hard work but is potentially possible. There was a loose hold on this bit but it's gone now. Above the break the prominent undercut flake forms the bottom of an amazing sheet of quartz crystals; the diagonal flake leading to the belay is the top of this sheet. This wacky rock is all rather brittle but not too worrying. The second pitch traverses past some slightly detached blocks but they're so big there's not much point worrying about them. The corner beyond is solid, with gear, apart from the final couple of moves past classic Swanage stacked roofing slabs - unfortunately near vertical here - which required a bit of digging to create some solid footholds. A rope down the top few feet would be sensible; go from the 3rd or 4th fencepost west of the one with the wooden supports. Alternatively, a bit of altruistic excavation would sort the top out. Worth doing as a classic Swanage adventure but for truly appalling looseness look elsewhere.matt perks - 01/Mar/09